Cherokee’s post office opened in 1859, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #60 of 140 in Iowa. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 9 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Cherokee post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1873.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cherokee’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cherokee is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #60 of 140 in Iowa. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cherokee’s overall grade.
Iowa towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Iowa town has 9.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Cherokee’s 31.0 sits above most of its state (72% of Iowa towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1873 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Cherokee’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1883Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Cherokee, census by census
Peaked at 7,724 in 1960; 5,199 people lived here in 2020.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cherokee’s Wikipedia page.
On the National Register
8 historic places in Cherokee
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
Cherokee was laid out as a town in 1870, and was named for the Southeast Indian tribe, most of whose members had been removed to Indian Territory in the late 1830s. Cherokee was incorporated on April 5, 1873.
Tyson Foods closed its Tyson Foods Deli Plant in Cherokee on September 27, 2014. Tyson was the largest employer in Cherokee at the time, and they laid off approximately 450 employees or over eight percent of the total population of Cherokee.
Passages that mention Cherokee, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Biographical history of Cherokoe County, Iowa1889 · page 307Read the page →
Read the text
This is one of the most modern villages of Cherokee County. It is the first station north of Cherokee, on the Cherokee & Dakota branch of the Illinois Central Railway.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Biographical history of Cherokoe County, Iowa1889 · page 551Read the page →
Read the text
trade, being a member of the firm of Balcon & Sellers, retail lumber merchants. At Winona he lived until 1870, when he came to Cherokee County and settled in Willow Township, on the land which he still owns. He resided in the town of Cherokee for three months before making a permanent settlement. He bought 360 acres of land to which
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Cherokee, 1859 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Cherokee post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1873.
How does Cherokee rank for history?
Cherokee is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #60 of 140 in Iowa. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Cherokee?
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Cherokee Public Library (listed 1985, the first), 2 historic districts, the Illinois Central Railroad Yard-Cherokee and the Cherokee Commercial Historic District, with 9 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 16 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Cherokee?
27% of Cherokee’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 22% for an Iowa town; the median home was built in 1963.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
